Today is one of those special days where you can feel see and smell spring in the air. The blooms are showing their brilliant faces and a breeze is blowing out old man winter. So it goes with us. We are waking from our winter naps and preparing for the challenges of new life.

I recall being at a church meeting in Topeka, Kansas when I was a wee lad and waking up to the lovely scent of spring. I was sleeping in a dormitory with several of the men of my church at the time and we were attending a Camp Meeting. I had never attended a Camp Meeting. The dormitory had massive open-air windows that allowed a brisk wake-up before the morning breakfast which was plentiful and good.

When our hopes are at their lowest ebb…then comes spring and the renewal of life, dreams, and plans…

A Cardinal is sitting on a hospital window ledge. He is singing, ‘Do not give up hope…I have been sent to bring you joy.’

Dogwoods bloom outside the home of the homeless…children laugh and play with no worries about tomorrow…they know that God is in control…

The rivers run into the sea and the cares of today await the eclipse of the Sun and the demonstration that we are all part of something so much bigger than we are…

We forget what manner of woman and man that we are. Debt, child care, work, and life are abundant with pitfalls, while another spring is here with all of its abundance and the gift of beginning again…

Memories lurk in the shadows of our minds. We remember that once we were happy…once we were free of the artifice of fake life and its constant demands…we recall laughing at cartoons and Big Books for Kids…a trip to the Orpheum Theatre was the adventure of a lifetime and swimming in Pounds Hollow Creek was the joy of our summer…

All the joys and happiness of our lives are part of us. We are not diminished. We are not reduced by our struggles. We are conquerors of all…the mighty oak tree tells us as he rustles from his slumber to be enjoyed in all his splendor…